


dream a little dream (of me)

by moonfleur



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Ambiguous Relationships, Demons, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Rituals, Supernatural Elements, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:20:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27036340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonfleur/pseuds/moonfleur
Summary: It begins like this.Renjun sees him first, a dark, fuzzy shape in the window of the store he is passing, just a bit too out of place to be his own reflection.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Zhong Chen Le
Comments: 27
Kudos: 61
Collections: Challenge #2 — tricks; treats; and terrors





	dream a little dream (of me)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [englishsummerrain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/englishsummerrain/gifts).



> > Happy Birthday Yoon!!! I couldn't gift this to you until reveals but here :) I thought it only fitting that this gift be a renle too since my first gift to you was also a renle! <3 I already wished you so you know all my (sappier) thoughts but I love you and I'm glad we became friends ♥︎ 
> 
> This was a very spontaneous decision but it happened and now it's here!
> 
> Thank you to the mods for organising such a fun fest and round ♥︎ And thank you to S for always reassuring me and giving me the validation I need.

This was not what Renjun expected. 

Not that he hadn’t known what he was doing — Renjun always knows what he’s doing — but he hadn’t expected _this._

The boy sits in the middle of the chalk circle, delicate lines of white curving in intricate patterns around him, runes scribbled along them that flare up every time the boy so much as takes a breath. He is so much more than Renjun expected — dark almost perfectly black hair that falls effortlessly over a face that shouldn’t look so beautiful on a creature like him. Because Renjun knows what he is, exactly what he is, the form he’s chosen to take failing to hide the very essence of his being from Renjun who can smell the sulphur and hellfire through the wards that surround him.

Demon.

The boy's lips quirk up, almost like he’d heard the flicker of thought as it passed through Renjun’s mind and the hair on the back of his neck stands. The boy smiles even wider, the tips of his fangs just visible past lips that shouldn’t look as soft and rosy as they do. There is a darkness in his gaze as he watches Renjun, flames licking out from the depths of them, like the reflection of a candle except there are none around them. 

Renjun finally moves from the corner of the room, from the safety of his own circle, stepping past white line after white line and the boy tracks his movements like a predator hunting its prey. It sends a delightful shiver down his spine. He ignores his gaze, knows the strength of the barrier between them better than anyone, trusts in his own power despite being faced with one so much greater than his. 

“Name,” he says, a command and the runes around the circle flare up, flashing red against the dark wood of his study floor. 

The boy winces once, when the magic takes a hold of him, before that same saccharine smile is back on his face and Renjun suddenly feels for a single split second like maybe he is the one being commanded. The boy stands slowly, tossing his hair out of his eyes in a movement so human, so out of place on a creature like him that it unsettles Renjun slightly. He crosses his arms and cocks his head to the side, giving Renjun an appraising look that makes him feel like he’s been thrown into ice and fire at the same time. 

“Chenle,” the boy says lightly despite the way the name weighs heavy over Renjun, the way he feels it settle into the palm of his hand like an offering. Because it is. Names hold power and Renjun can feel the strength of it in the air, the way it sears against his consciousness and against the palm of his hand. Chenle had given his True Name, and the weight of _that_ settles heavily on Renjun’s heart.

♱

It begins like this.

Renjun sees him first, a dark, fuzzy shape in the window of the store he is passing, just a bit too out of place to be his own reflection. He ignores it, of course, plays it off as a trick of the light, the warping of the glass, ignores the fact that the shadow had been taller than him, ignores the tingling against the nape of his neck that feels too much like a breath.

He goes home, and there it is again — a dark shape, standing tall just beyond his reflection in the television. He keeps his eyes trained on the coffee table where he is straightening out his notes, a silhouette that is still upright despite the fact that he is bent over. A chill seeps into his bones when he sees the shadow bend over him, when he feels the first ghostings of a breath against his face and his arms. He wants to look, wants to see clearer this creature haunting him but he knows that if he turns to look he will only see himself, and he will be alone.

Renjun sees him clearly for the first time a few mornings later, toothbrush halfway to his mouth that he promptly drops into the sink when his eyes land on the boy perched on the edge of his bathtub. He is beautiful, pale, with sharp features and an even sharper grin, and Renjun would have thought him a ghost if he hadn’t met his eyes and seen the flames flickering in them, if he couldn’t feel the power radiating off from him in waves that have his own power stirring within him like a coiled snake waiting to strike. 

He looks normal enough, _human_ enough, but there is something about him, the way he almost seems to shift in the mirror, like some kind of real life lenticular card. One minute he is the near-perfect semblance of a human boy and the next he is shadow and flame, like the flames behind his eyes have been released. A true denizen of Hell and yet, Renjun isn’t frightened, not the way he should be if he comes across a demon, unbound. 

The boy smiles at him, his form shifting like smoke in the wind — boy, demon, boy — before he curls his fingers in a semblance of a wave and then he is gone, leaving Renjun reeling as he collapses against his bathroom counter feeling, for all intents and purposes, like he’s just had his soul sucked out of him. And maybe he has.

The boy becomes a permanent fixture in Renjun’s life after that— he sees him everywhere now but always only in reflections. They don’t speak, they never speak, but the boy likes to watch Renjun as he goes about his life. Renjun will see him, sometimes, seated on the edge of the kitchen counter in his toaster, eyes bright as he watches Renjun cook. Sometimes, if he’s feeling particularly devious, he’ll knock things over until Renjun meets his eyes through the nearest reflective surface and he finally quietens with an all-too-satisfied grin.

♱

The dreams come after.

When he first appears in Renjun’s dreams he is as Renjun knows him, pale and dark-haired and definitely taller than him. He comes to Renjun out of the darkness, with a smile that Renjun has become so accustomed to. It is the first time he speaks too.

“Hello,” he breathes quietly as the smoke swirls around them in the vast, emptiness that is Renjun’s current dreamscape, a void of nothing, just Renjun, the boy, and the swirls of smoke that wrap around them. His voice is lighter than Renjun expected, and warmer, like the tinkling of a wind chime in a warm summer’s breeze.

Renjun takes him in, finally seeing him on the same plane. He’s dressed in all black, like he always is in the reflections, black leather pants clinging to his figure in a way that Renjun can only describe as sinful. Something stirs within him and the boy’s lips curl slightly, smug, reminding Renjun just how privy he is to his thoughts, reminding Renjun of the sheer strength of his power that he can break through Renjun’s mental barriers. His power is even more palpable now too, this close, and Renjun wonders if it will spark off his skin if Renjun presses a finger to it. 

“I can help you, you know. Show you how to erect stronger barriers.” His voice washes over Renjun and he looks up to find him looking at him expectantly. 

A tendril of smoke winds up his arm and Renjun’s eyes dart to it before he speaks. “Why?”

The boy shrugs, nonchalant, but the flames behind his eyes seem to grow until it looks like he is ablaze from the inside out. “It’s a lot more fun when I can’t hear what you’re thinking.”

And that’s how it begins.

He meets the boy every night in his dreams. Sometimes, they return to the void and he shows Renjun how to protect himself from prying minds — a skill he picks up a lot faster than expected — other times the boy brings him to places, whole worlds he will probably never be able to see otherwise. They never tell each other their names, not following Renjun’s initial question of _who are you?_ And his subsequent answer of _no one._ A lie if Renjun’s ever heard one but they both have their reasons for holding their identities close to their hearts, especially with who and what they are, so Renjun doesn’t press the matter and neither does he.

It is on one of these nights that Renjun finally asks the other question that’s been on the tip of his tongue since the beginning.

They are at the top of a giant citadel overlooking an infinite hellscape of cliffs and fire below them. The boy had described this as one of the greatest Demon cities and Renjun doesn’t doubt that for a second. The citadel is set on the highest rock face and towers over a sprawling town of low stone buildings set between rivers of flame and molten rock. The cliff face itself is streaked with crevices of fire and it throws everything into a warm, orange haze, which is only heightened by the brick red sky. It is beautiful, in a horrific kind of way, but Renjun finds himself more amazed than terrified.

Renjun snakes an arm around the boy, pulling him closer so that he can rest his head on his shoulder. He traces a finger of the unmarred skin of the boy’s forearm. “Why are you unbound?” The boy says nothing but Renjun doesn’t miss the way his fingers tighten around the edge of the parapet, fingers digging into the black stone. “You don’t have to tell me but most Demons never enter the human realm without being first summoned and bound.”

The boy sighs once but he relents, turning away from the view below the balcony to press his lips into the crown of Renjun’s head. It is a strange phenomenon of these dreams; that he can feel the boy, can feel every press of skin against skin, but never much of anything else. “It’s complicated,” he answers softly, breath ghosting over the top of Renjun’s head. “But I can’t go back. Not to the Demon realm, not anymore.”

He doesn’t elaborate and Renjun doesn’t ask, but he presses closer. “Then stay with me,” he whispers into the skin of his shoulder.

The boy stiffens in his arms and for a second he wonders if maybe he overstepped, like everything that’s happened over the past few months haven’t been leading to this singular moment. “What?” He asks, unsure for the first time in all the times they’ve spoken and Renjun pulls away so that he can look into his eyes as he takes his face into his hands, gently thumbing over the beautiful, sharp angles of his features.

“Let me summon you,” he says softly.

“And you will bind me?” 

Renjun hates the uncertainty in his face, in his voice. Hates that it might be because of him. So he shakes his head. “No. I won’t. Not unless you want me to. I promise.”

The boy looks at him, weighing his decision. Renjun can see the thoughts swirling around in his head but he doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything. Above them, demons soar, black shapes against red skies, their voices carrying down to them with the wind. 

“Okay,” he says, finally. “Summon me.”

♱

That’s how they end up here, shrouded in the half darkness of Renjun’s study, Chenle watching as Renjun steps closer to his circle. The wards flare again, runes turning red in warning until he gestures at them and the chalk lines disappear, the barrier between them fading away into nothing. There is no need for one now, not when he knows Chenle’s True Name, not that there was ever a need for it in the first place. 

Chenle doesn’t move, just waits for Renjun to draw closer still until they are standing barely an arm’s length from each other. Chenle smells like fire and brimstone and Renjun is drawn to him like a moth to a flame. He reaches out, presses a finger lightly to the curve of Chenle’s cheek, inhaling as he feels the surge of power beneath his skin. 

“You told me your Name,” Renjun says, no longer trying to hide his awe.

Chenle smiles, beautiful and predatory, the fire in his eyes flickering. “It was only fair,” he answers, leaning closer and Renjun revels in the heat of his breath against his skin. “ _Injunnie._ ”

Renjun freezes, his blood going cold so fast it feels like he’s been submerged into ice. His finger hovers over Chenle’s face. “Since when?” He whispers, breath catching in his throat. His heart feels like it's threatening to burst out of his chest and he has to take a deep breath just to remind himself that he is still capable of breathing.

Chenle reaches for him, wrapping an arm around him to steady him almost like he knows Renjun’s knees are on the verge of giving out. He pulls Renjun into his arms slowly, carefully, giving him enough time to back away if he needs to. He doesn’t. 

“During one of the first sessions,” Chenle says eventually. “Your barriers slipped for the shortest of times and I only caught the one word. But I promise I never did anything. I would never.”

“I know, I know.” Renjun sighs, head thumping against Chenle’s chest. “But you could have.”

Chenle pulls away from him then. “I would never,” he repeats. “I could never do that to you.” The smile on his face is gone, replaced by a look so serious that Renjun couldn’t have doubted his words even if he tried. “Besides,” he continues, eyes darkening to glowing embers. “That’s not the only reason I told you my Name.” He pauses to take Renjun’s hand in his. “I want you to bind me.”

Renjun actually does take a step away from him this time, but Chenle keeps his hand firmly in his, preventing Renjun from actually escaping the conversation. “What? Why?”

“Because,” Chenle begins, and the uncertainty from that night on the citadel is back. He really does hate seeing Chenle like this. “Because if I’m unbound, I can be summoned. I don’t want…” He trails off but Renjun hears him loud and clear. Renjun tightens his hold on Chenle’s hand as he steps closer, steps back into his space. 

The effect is immediate, Chenle relaxes and the tension bleeds out of him. Renjun reaches to cup his cheek, and Chenle sighs into the touch. “Only if you’re sure,” Renjun says into the space between them.

Chenle smiles softly, the fire in his eyes rekindling. “Of you, always.”

This pulls a half-sob from Renjun’s throat and he surges forward to capture Chenle’s lips in his, marvelling at the feeling of Chenle against him, warm and so very _real._ Chenle makes a surprised noise in his throat but he kisses him back with equal fervour, both of them savouring the feeling of being able to _touch_ in a way they’ve never been able to before. He smiles when Chenle licks into him, allows himself to taste too before he’s pulling away.

“Later,” he says, breathless. “First, I- I want to see you.” Chenle looks at him in confusion before he realises what Renjun means. Renjun catches the question in his eyes, and he nods. 

“Okay.”

Chenle in human form is beautiful but Chenle after he sheds his human skin and becomes the Demon he really is, that Chenle is magnificent and Renjun finds he no longer knows how to breathe when his skin falls away to reveal him in all his glory. There is still a form underneath, humanoid, but it is swathed in darkness like a robe, flames licking around its edges to gather in a crown around his head. The skin of his face is still pale but his eyes are fully black.

“So beautiful,” Renjun murmurs, and the flames around Chenle flare a little. He holds out a hand, which Chenle nervously takes. “Now, come.”

He leads them to his desk, still littered with bowls of poultices and chalk. He ignores all of that, reaching straight for the box that sits at the far end and pulls out a glass dagger, gleaming orange in the light of Chenle’s flames. 

Without warning, he brings the dagger down across his palm, allowing it to drip over an empty bowl as he does the same to Chenle, the darkness around his palm receding just enough to reveal the skin. The wave of power that hits him when their blood combines is almost enough to bowl him over but Chenle steadies him. He reaches for the power of Chenle’s name, the weight of it having settled in his gut and he weaves it together with his own over the bowl. It is almost too much for him, the strength of Chenle’s power in his blood and in his name is overwhelming but Chenle presses their hands together and Renjun feels his power bleed into him.

He does it, in the end, draws lines into their forearms with the blood, watching as it sears itself into their skin as he sings his power into it. It hits him later, when Chenle finally presses him into sheets that can be felt, and leaves a trail of very real marks along the curve of his neck, the significance of what he’s done. He watches as Chenle kisses down the markings, the way he tangles their fingers together, and wonders if Chenle knows that Renjun is as much his now as he is Renjun’s.

When Chenle pulls him back down to recapture his lips, and the bond within him thrums in delight, he decides he wouldn’t have it any other way.

♱♱♱

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to have _more_ but word limit got me bad. I hope you still enjoyed this little bit of [waves hands] whatever this is.
> 
> Thank you for reading!♥︎
> 
> ༻✧༺
> 
> Find me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/moonfleur_) or [curious cat](http://curiouscat.me/moonfleur_) ♥︎


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